| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Window 1 | 24 OCT – 24 DEC 2026 | 62d |
| Window 2 | 26 DEC 2026 – 28 FEB 2027 | 65d |
| Window 3 | 10 OCT – 18 OCT 2026 | 9d |
As publishedOct. 24-Dec. 24, 2026 and Dec. 26, 2026-Feb. 28, 2027 (Junior/mentored: Oct. 10-18, 2026)
Male and female pheasants may be taken in all WMUs.A Pheasant Permit is required for most pheasant hunters. No open season in any Wild Pheasant Recovery Area (WPRA) except by executive order. Junior/mentored season Oct. 10-18, 2026 (same limits).
Pennsylvania's pheasant geography splits cleanly along a wild-vs-stocked line. A genuine, self-sustaining wild population exists only within two PGC Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas (WPRAs), where wild-trapped western-state pheasants have been released and it is unlawful to release artificially propagated (farm-raised) pheasants: the Central Susquehanna WPRA (Northumberland, Montour, and Columbia counties, established 2007) and the Franklin WPRA (Franklin County, established 2011, first wild releases 2014). Two other WPRAs, Somerset (established 2009) and Hegins-Gratz Valley (Schuylkill/Dauphin counties, established 2011), were dissolved (2017 and 2019 respectively) after failing to sustain wild populations. Outside the two active WPRAs, essentially all pheasant hunting opportunity is put-and-take: PGC releases 225,000-plus pen-raised pheasants annually (2025-26 figure, similar planned for 2026-27) across state game lands spanning all six PGC administrative regions, from SGL 95 in Butler County to SGL 280/Blue Marsh in Berks County, plus an additional ~8,400-bird late-season release in February. The regulation states the wild/stocked split directly: 'No open season in any Wild Pheasant Recovery Area (WPRA) except by executive order.'
Most PA pheasant hunting occurs on PGC-stocked birds outside any Wild Pheasant Recovery Area (WPRA), with no dedicated forward-looking forecast beyond the retrospective Game Take Survey. But PGC does run genuine, currently-active wild-population monitoring inside the WPRAs (Central Susquehanna, Franklin County): a PGC newsroom article dated October 6, 2025 confirms 'springtime pheasant crowing surveys in these areas were below the population estimate trend at which hunting would be authorized' for the 2025-26 season -- real, current monitoring with no discrete published numeric report found. No open season exists in any WPRA except by executive order regardless.
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